Rep. Wood Files New Florida Medical Marijuana Law

New Florida Medical Marijuana Law

Representative John Wood just introduced House Bill 1183 last week. This new Florida medical marijuana bill, would create the “Florida Medical Marijuana Act” and, like Senate Bill 852 previously filed by Senator Brandes with the same title (and discussed in our previous article here), would allow the use of medical marijuana in Florida by patients certified by a Florida marijuana doctor to be suffering from a variety of listed illnesses, including cancer, HIV, epilepsy, and other serious illnesses. Those with a terminal diagnosis would also be eligible to use medical marijuana in Florida, once certified by a physician. Anyone certified as meeting these requirements would be able to obtain a Florida medical marijuana card. The main difference between the medical marijuana bill proposed by Representative Wood and the one proposed by Senator Brandes is that the Wood bill (HB 1183) would not allow the smoking of marijuana (while the Brandes bill would).

A Number of New Florida Marijuana Laws Have Been Filed In The Florida Legislature For The 2016 Term

The Florida Legislative session starts tomorrow (January 11, 2016). Hence, it is too early to tell whether any of these newly-proposed changes to Florida marijuana law will pass the Legislature. The fact that the United for Care Florida marijuana petition will be on the November, 2016 ballot and is almost certain to pass may spur Florida Legislators to acting this session so that Florida medical marijuana regulations could be in place sooner. We will monitor the Florida marijuana bills and keep you informed of their progress. We will also provide more detail on any new Florida medical marijuana bills that look likely to pass so that our readers can be up to speed on any new legal requirements as soon as possible.

A copy of House Bill 1183 (sponsored by Representative Wood) can be read here.